"Zen and the Art of Stress Relief: A Conversation with Sara Nakamura" welcomes bestselling author and stress expert, Sara Nakamura, for an enlightening journey into stress-free entrepreneurship. Catharine and Sara delve into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in managing stress and avoiding burnout. Discover the secrets of crafting simple daily routines and the transformative power of hydration and positive self-talk. Sara introduces her "Zen Zone" technique for conquering stress and public speaking anxiety. They emphasize the significance of authenticity, setting boundaries, and embracing simplicity for heightened productivity. Unearth invaluable stress management tips and claim your free gift from Sara to kickstart your stress-less journey. Tune in to unlock the path to Zen, bid stress farewell, and thrive in the entrepreneurial realm!

Sara shares her a free gift, including a stress relief routine, with the audience. Catharine and her listeners will also have access to the StressLess Startup Kit and Feel Better, Faster Tracker, courtesy of Sara.

Free Gift: https://stressxpert.com/free-gift-from-sara

About the Guest:

Sara Nakamura is a Best-selling author, Board-Certified Therapeutic Massage therapist. International speaker, mentor, and StressXpert. Her Best-selling book “Stressed Out & Don’t Know What to Do?” has helped many heart-centered leaders overcome stress and burnout in various areas of their lives. Sara is an expert in avoiding burnout and offers simple stress-relief solutions. Overall, Sara's expertise and experience make her a valuable resource for anyone looking to alleviate stress and avoid burnout.

Linkedin: Https://www.linkedin.com/in/saranaka

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sara_stressxpert

Email: info@stressxpert.com

Website: https://www.stressxpert.com

What is the Best Quiz for Your Biz?

Take this FREE 60-second Quiz to Find Out: quizformybiz.com.

About the Host:

Catharine O'Leary is a dynamic speaker, author, and entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in market research, consumer insights, and innovative marketing strategies. She's known as the "quiz queen" and is an expert at asking the right questions to connect with ideal clients and boost business growth. With over three decades of corporate experience, Catharine is passionate about helping entrepreneurs have better conversations with their ideal clients and grow their business with cutting-edge marketing strategies.

https://catharineoleary.com/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Catharine O'Leary: Hey everyone, welcome back to kickstart the conversation. I'm your host, Catharine O'Leary and I am super excited to have a very good friend of mine. Sara on with us today. I want to ask you a question. Have you ever imagined a life without stress? I think I have maybe, maybe when I'm on the beach for like a week when and then it lasts about five minutes. And I realized that I'm going to probably have to get back on a plane and go home. And then it's gone again. But imagine really a life without stress. So Sara is a best selling author, Board Certified Therapeutic Massage Therapist. She's an international speaker, mentor and a stress spurt. Her best selling book stressed out and don't know what to do has helped many heart center leaders overcome stress and burnout in various areas of their lives. Sara is an expert in avoiding burnout, and offers simple stress relief solutions, which I cannot wait to hear. Because I definitely need these. Overall, Sara's expertise and experience makes her a valuable resources, a resource for anyone looking to alleviate that stress and avoid burnout. So Sara, thank you so much for coming on board and being able to kickstart the conversation. I know we've we've hung out at a couple of events, and we're getting to know each other a little bit better. But I still don't know how to pronounce your last name. So if you could, please.

Of course, certainly, first of all, Catharine, thank you so much for having me. And it's great to get together with you and just another platform, because I love to kickstart that conversation with you. No matter if we're in person, whatever we're talking about, it's always it's always great to be with you. And how you say my last name is it's phonetic. It's Nakamura, it's Japanese. So Sara Nakamura, that's how you say my last name. So again, happy to be here. And I'm glad to get those five minutes, at least when you're on vacation of stress free, you know, mentality, I guess

Catharine O'Leary: that's happened more often than that, but not by a lot. And I would say that since starting the entrepreneurial journey, it's really hard to carve out that little bit of stress free time. Because even when I'm, you know, watching TV or something at the end of the day, or just about ready to go to bed, there's always something buzzing in my head. There's always like the next program, or what do I have to do tomorrow? Or the next email that has to be written? So how do you, you know, like, what are the, you know, habits or the, the tips that we can maybe, you know, really quickly put into practice to, to help us just take a break? Because I mean, like, it's just the road to burnout. Really?

Absolutely. And you and I both know what burnout looks like, especially from the corporate world. And so many business owners, entrepreneurs, you're out there, and you have some kind of solution. And when you share that with your clients, you know, you want it to be the solution for them. And a lot of times what happens is, you come from your own experience. So when I talk about burnout, when I talk about stress relief, it's because I have been burnt out, because I've had a high level of stress. And so I too, have to really think about it sometimes. But you know, that's why I created the book stressed out and don't know what to do. Because there's so many people out there that are like, Hey, Sarah, I'm not sure exactly what to do with what's happening in my body. And just to give you, your listeners a little bit of background, is that I have been a massage therapist for nearly 20 years. And with my partner, Rachel light, just over 30 years combined. And with that, over the years, we found that the stress and tension that have gone through people's bodies really show up in other areas of their life. So whether it's something that has happened to them, you know, from childhood 20 years ago, something that's happening for them right now, they're having a stressful situation. And whether it be an acute event, you know, tragedy, or you know, something that's accumulated over the years, that stress kind of builds up and builds up in their bodies, and sometimes they haven't released it. So what we did was, we started getting into mental health and emotional health, and we started creating routines for people, and based on what our clients are needing at the time. So to answer your question, creating new habits, creating new habits is such such an important way to to change what's going on for you to break up that pattern of tenseness or on motivation or just different things that are just kind of making you stagnant. And so one of the things that I wanted to share with your audience today is how to feel better faster. You know, when you're an entrepreneur, when you know you and I were talking about this a little bit is you know, now that most people had stayed home from the pandemic They came from their offices now that they have their home offices, they're doing a lot less movement. And not everybody. But it seems to be one of the things that that really happens these days. And so when you start implementing the habits just like you have in, in your business routine, and creating habits around stress relief, and doing them over and over, I know it sounds kind of silly and kind of, you know, kind of mundane, but it's really important to do is just like when you get up, you, even if you're, you know, grabbing a cup of coffee is one of the first things that you do, it's important also to incorporate the things like hydration, right. So the first thing that I do in my morning and I help my clients with is to set your intention for the day. So am I going to have a productive day today, because you know, what happens a lot of times is we get so inundated with going, Okay, I've got 20 things to do, I've got 20 phone calls, I've got five clients, all of the different things that we have that run through our minds, if we start putting simple things in place, we're able to just be more productive, let go of the things that are really bothering us. So again, I I set the intention for my day, it's mostly around, I'm going to be productive today, or I am productive today, we start in that I am. And you know, make it present, make it make it just one of those things where you're so confident in it. And if confidence takes a little bit of time for you, that's okay. And so only do that in the morning. Our next step is to when we get out of bed, drink a glass of water. I live in Las Vegas, you were just here, you know how dry it is. But you know, whatever climate you live in hydration is one of the things that really makes you tired, if you are dehydrated, or under hydrated, where I think it's around 65% of people these days are under hydrated. And you know, if you want to even look good, if you want to feel better. Hydration will help your skin it'll help your eyesight, it'll help lots of things. And just getting in the glass of water in the morning before you even grab that cup of coffee. It's very, very important. Right. And then the next thing they help people do is to realize that if you start a movement, whatever type of mood movement, it is, touching your toes, doing a couple jumping jacks, just that movement alone is going to trigger your mindset trigger your body to move in a direction forward. And just with those three things, you can do those things in just less than a minute for each one of those. So in less than three minutes, you've gotten three stress relieving tips to move forward in your life. And, you know, we can dive deeper into you know, different types of stresses, and what happens with with people that have a prolonged amount of stress, right, like we talked about, it manifests in your shoulders for most entrepreneurs, for most business owners, you're sitting at a desk all day, you're typing, right, your lower back pain. So if you're doing stretches throughout the day, that will definitely help for you. And one of the things that I will I will share with your audience a little bit later is one of my free gifts, is you'll be able to go through this routine, and help yourself and I'll show you a few of the stretches, I'll show you the entire routine that you can go through to not only help your body, but it sets you up to win for the rest of your day. Because by the time you're you're you're hitting you know your pillow at the end of the day, and maybe you've made 18 Out of those 20 phone calls and you're feeling like hey, I've got some great things done today. Sometimes that negative self talk kicks in, because it takes 10 Positive thoughts 10 to average out one negative thought. I mean, think about that 10 to one. So if you've got one bad phone call one bad client experience. You have to have so many other positive experiences just to just to get back to even and just like the entrepreneurial cycle, right, there's, there's so many times where you know, we'll have like a great month and you'll be making 10 2050 however much money you make 1000s of dollars. And then you'll have times where you ride that roller coaster. And sometimes you have a lot less, you know, those months have just been downsized, depending on of course you know the seasons is it. You know what holidays are around depending on what industry you're in. And so that can add a lot of stress to your life too. And the thing that that we've also discovered in in talking to so many clients and you know whether we've had clients that are just massage clients or clients that we've helped with, with their mental or emotional states, again, the thing that we've realized is that when stress comes from inside, it's harder to help from the outside, right, it's harder for your friends, your family to bring you up. But when stress comes from the outside, in, somebody cuts you off on the freeway, you know, you, you see the media, all of those different things, when that comes into place, that outside stressors, a lot, a lot of people have more tools and techniques to combat that, you know, they'll they'll go soothe themselves with a bath, or they'll eat their favorite food. So those are things that that people self soothe with, which are perfectly okay, which is great. And so putting those two things together, those two different types of stressors, we've realized that there is a stress cycle, and think of a game of pinball, have you ever played pinball, you know, you're, you're going flopping back and forth, you know, trying to keep that ball afloat, you know, bouncing back and forth. And that's kind of like what the stress cycle is. So whether it comes from the inside or outside, you have these triggers. And you're just kind of trying to stay afloat. And so, you know, when you're going through it, you're going, I don't even know what's happening. And by the end of the day, you don't know why you're so fatigued, and you don't know why you're so exhausted, and you're going what happened to my day. So what we want to do is we want to give you tools to help you break that cycle. And stress isn't linear. It's not like you go, Hey, all right, step number one is I see that stress coming. You know, step number two is here it comes three, all right, I'm just gonna go drink some water and you know, take a bath, it doesn't happen that way. And I'm done with stress, it doesn't happen, right. And you know, you don't have step four, where everything's fine. And you're rid of stress forever. So when we create little tools and little techniques, like I said, you know, for my book, there's, we have several two minute techniques that we can go over. But when you break it at any point in that cycle, then you start to kind of unravel how to help yourself along that path. And so I'll give you an example is,

it's one that I love to share is this the Zen zone, and, you know, your speaker, you're, you know, you travel quite a bit. And when you speak from stage, sometimes we get a little nervous sometimes, you know, there's different stressors that happen in our lives. And maybe you know, the venue's a little different, whatever the stressing point is, are what I like to create with with, with my audience, and we can do it right now is think of a place that's the most relaxing for you, whether it is that beach, while you're on vacation, you know, and then just kind of breathe into it. And just if it's, if it's comfortable for you, close your eyes, take a deep breath in, and then breathe it out. And start to focus on that place, that really relaxing place, that place where you're at ease, where you know, that you know. And what that means is, you know, the solutions, you know the answers, you know that you know, right, and when you're in that place, you become more confidence. And that confidence just exudes from you. And then you start to relax even more. So those shoulders start to relax more, and they're not up in your ears. And then you start to breathe a little bit more. And as you're starting to relax, you realize that you're in a really good place. And if you're, if you're a person that likes to, you know, have tactile triggers, then you know, I suggest getting out you know, your favorite aromatherapy, lighting a candle, whatever that is for you just create a nice little space for yourself. And then go to the bathroom, wash your hands. And the reason why I say that is because when you start anchoring a place of relaxation to something that you do consistently, you'll be able to tap into that more often. Okay, I see your face.

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah, I like that a lot because people people talk about like anchor that that feeling and you're like, Okay, where was I when I felt that or like it like you know, like do the high five or something like that and but if you do it was something like wash your hands which you do all the time especially close COVID Then anchoring like that relaxed feeling that you can bring up every time that you're washing your hands that's that's amazing. Even that little tip alone like that.

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I can go a little bit deeper and and sometimes I do, but you know, I mean, that takes five seconds. You know? When, or however long it takes you to sing Happy Birthday, right a minute to wash your hands. But, you know, when I created that it was because, you know, I would get so nervous getting on stage, and you know, pre pandemic, I couldn't even talk to anybody, a larger crowd than five, you know, I had, I was so nervous, I forgot my name. And so when I started figuring out that, that was one of the things that I could really help myself with. And I went, Okay, let me anchor in the bathroom, because there's always a bathroom around, you know, even if it's just putting together your hands, and just going through that motion, right. And so oftentimes, you know, you'll see me about 10 minutes before I take stage, bathroom, because of that. Something simple today, you probably want to do it anyway.

Catharine O'Leary: But I can see that even like, just as I'm rubbing my hands together, right now, I'm like, oh, even just doing that, well, we'll bring that like anchor that ends. So that's, that's super cool. So there's a ton of information in that and gold nuggets. So just to recap for people, I think that it doesn't take long to, to calm yourself down. And well, I shouldn't say that, it doesn't have to take long to to, you know, get into these habits, you know, like you said, you know, drink a glass of water in the morning, even just moving a little bit gets your mind moving ahead. And just just remember that this is an this is really important for entrepreneurs, it's always going to be both an external and an internal game, right? Business is an external and an internal game. In fact, it's probably more internal, than it is external, to be honest. So, you know, like, you can, you know, absolutely take the walks, get the fresh air and so on. But just understand that your mindset is being reset, at the same time, and that's hugely important, because it's not just, it is about moving around, and absolutely we are, I am, I am awful, I'm moving around during the day, because I'm at my computer, and you know, you got the 100 things to do. And then my, my, I feel that my shoulders end up around my eyeballs. And, you know, like, by the end of the day, I've got, you know, massive headache, because I, you know, I haven't moved around enough. So, you know, even just when you were you had to close our eyes there and anchor into that place of, you know, that, you know, I love that, you know that, you know, and that's the internal game. That's, that's really where big strides can be made very quickly, I

think, yes, I agree with you. And in, in creating what we call the eye care system, that's step number one is going inside of yourself, because you do have the answers. And so many times, especially even with business owners, we look for external ways to what's the next class, what's the next, you know, seminar, and, and those are great things and we learn and we can grow from the education that we get from others. But when it comes down to things that that are really important to us, and especially when we're feeling alone, a lot of entrepreneurs feel alone these days, because you're behind the computer a lot more, we're not interacting as much as we had been in the past, even when we go to events, then we're just flooded with so many people, then a lot of times we have to protect ourselves, you know, and that's, that's another thing is that, you know, creating your boundary, creating your bubble around yourself, creating that energetic boundary, you know, and sometimes it's physical boundary, you know, depending on, you know, where you're from, you know, some people like to stand a little bit closer, but some people need that space. So if you're a person that needs that space, put up that bubble around yourself, you know, and, and take the time to realize what your body needs. And you know, a lot of time for like, but I just have to go, I just have to go. I mean, you know, we were remember that especially from corporate, and you know, or if you're you know, in a month where or a quarter where you're not making as much as you know, you know, you haven't in the past or that, you know, have your goals set, you know, we all set our goals. And sometimes if we're not hitting them, then we put a lot more pressure on ourselves. And once we start doing that, we start kind of chasing different things, you know, again, living in Las Vegas, I see people chasing money all the time, you know, they put in that, you know, $20 bill, they lose it and they put in $100 Bill and they lose it and, you know, they start chasing the money. And, you know, I see that with with business owners is that well, because we're going okay, how do we get that next client instead of going, hey, you know, I know what I have, I know and with confidence that I can help people with whatever problem that I solve. And then those people will be attracted to me just like when you talk about your quizzes, you know, you have the right things in place the right questions, and those people are naturally attracted to you and that's why they want to work with you.

Catharine O'Leary: And this so yes, and One of the things that I think you and I talked about before, is, like that rollercoaster ride of, you know, the ups and downs of revenue, and maybe not being as consistent and getting to the point sometimes where, you know, like, you're wondering where not where the next client is gonna come from, but where the next mortgage payment is going to come from you. And we'll get into that kind of cycle of chasing, and, you know, lack lack of, and to be able to go back into that, that space of you know, what, you know, and just trusting in that is so helpful. And we'll, you know, we'll put you in into an an energy and an a, you know, an abundance mindset to be able to call in those new clients, because you're gonna scare them away. If you're, if you're just freaking out, and you're just like, Oh, my God, I just need one more client, you're never gonna find because it's like, it's desperate like it. I mean, it comes off as, as desperate people don't quite know why they like something wasn't matching, because something was matching. Like it mean, it's, it's always that person at the front of the room that's like, says the very least, and is the most confident that gets the most, you know, kind of like, What's going on over there are like, Les, I want to sign up for that, you know, like, you don't have to overcomplicate things, and you just have to be you and know that that's that's what is meant to be and that's that's enough.

It's more Absolutely, absolutely. You know, and that's why, you know, when we put out the book, and it was just really simple stress relief solutions. And, you know, when we talked about it in the past, we're gone. Is that, is that compelling enough, right, as as an entrepreneur, you going, you know, are people gonna be attracted that and you go, it's just simple. You don't I mean, because because as humans, we overcomplicate things, and let me tell you, I've, I'm definitely a person that has has overcomplicated lots of situations, I'm very much a thinker, but you know, what, I'm also empathic. So you know, I get into that space. And when I start trusting my gut again, and also have, you know, the, the plan in place, and the tools together, where when I lined those different things, I have more productivity, and when I can move forward with that, then it helps others, right. So that's why we started focusing on helping people with their productivity, because stress can come from anywhere, you know, it's such a broad topic. And, you know, but what I find so much is that entrepreneurs get stuck in that one thing, and sometimes that one thing can be something that you just didn't see. And so from the outside perspective, you know, we go in and go, Okay, what else is going on around you, and then you go, Okay, it's, you know, something that's deeper beneath the surface, and we've talked about that in the past, too, is, you know, a lot of times when someone is cutting you off on the freeway, you know, it's not just because they're in a hurry for that seconds, they, you know, so many examples, you know, to go into, but there's, there's so much that's happening for them. And, you know, we don't know what's going on for somebody else. And as a business owner, you know, you, you solve a problem for somebody else. And so you know, that there's so many things happening for your clients. And when you get beneath that surface, and get to the root of the stress that's going on for you, you can really, you know, let it go at that cellular level. Just like if we help you with an emotional detox, and emotional detox is letting go of, you know, all of the things that you've experienced in your past, whether it's from childhood 20 years ago, or something that happened this morning, when we start building up emotions and start wobbling that over with a heated conversation, you start, you know, getting into a rhythm or pattern that's not productive. And I know what when that happened for people, you know, you start again, disengaging with your clients. And that's that's not that's not a good thing. Right. So,

Catharine O'Leary: so the, some of the kind of feel better, faster. tips that you have for us, I know that you had some you've given us some already. Are there some more little nuggets out there for us?

Oh, of course. So, you know, again, we discussed the Zen zone, which, you know, try that out, do that over and over, find a place and again, I'll just touch base with that, again, is, you know, set up your bathroom that has that's, that's going to be inviting to you. So like I said, you know, bringing aromatherapy bring in, you know, make it soothing for you. So that you go back to that over and over and over and try that out for 30 days. Right. I mean, for some people it can happen instantly right away. But you know, for other people creating the habit 30 days, you know, over and over. And just that simplicity of different things. And you know, I have a whole feel better, faster routine. Again, I'll give that to your audience here. So that you can go through it on your own. But just different ways of being able to, when you're done with work, when you're done with, you know, your last client, be done with your last clients create that boundary, you know, a lot of times, you know, somebody will, you know, send an email after hours, and you're like, okay, they finally email me back. And then you're going to that next step. And, and as entrepreneurs, a lot of times, we don't create that boundary. So make the boundary, the boundary, whatever that is for you. And once you break it, then you give yourself permission to continue to break it. And if that's okay for you, great, and if that's the way you want to move forward, that's okay, too. Because there's no right or wrong in this business, right? It's just where you want to be. So a lot of times too, if you're on a track of moving forward in your business, but you're letting other things, you know, fall to the wayside in your life. Maybe it's your relationships, maybe it's your health. Once you get in alignment, once you start making your goals toward one path, one lane, that will help streamline your productivity, and that will help you to feel better, because at the end of the day, it's about how accomplished we feel sometimes, you know, and if you feel like there's more to do on that to do list kind of feel undone.

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah. And that can be stressful.

It certainly can. It certainly can. So, you know, going back to aromatherapy ease. Now, whether it's, you know, peppermint to help your digestion, whether it's something calming and relaxing like lavender, put that by your bedside at night. That's a simple little easy tool at the end of the day to go ahead and do it allows you to go past that blood brain barrier allows you to go okay, now I know I smell that smell. It's time to relax, time to go to bed. Because you've talked about in in your podcast a couple episodes ago, you're talking about that 3am story, you know, what is that story that just goes on and on in your head and, and in business? As business owners, we help resolve that that issue for other people. But how do we resolve our own? Right? And so, you know, getting a good night's sleep absolutely helps. And certain certain routines that you can do will help you to calm that feeling.

Catharine O'Leary: Perfect. Well, Sara, thank you so much for for coming on to kick start the conversation, I think. Now you mentioned a couple times, but the field better faster. Blueprint is the gift that you have for us, correct?

Yes. So I have got a stressless startup kit. And then that stressless startup kit, the next step after that, I give you the feel better, faster tracker.

Catharine O'Leary: Absolutely. I love it. And that that link will be in the show notes everyone, because here's the deal. And I say this a lot in the podcast, but here's the deal. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It's not the easiest thing. Like if you want easy go to go get a job, I swear to God, because that's a lot easier. Like it just like this is this is a journey. It's it's a marathon, it's you know, like it's, it's a long, it's a long game, if you're not taking care of your health, if you're not sleeping, if you're not getting hydration, like it is going to affect your business. And I think that people forget that, that your productivity and your revenue is being affected by your health or by the fact that you're not getting up and your creativity, like you can't be creative, you got all this like stress and you're not you're fatigued and you're like it's very hard to be creative. If if you're not feeling like in that zone. So get into the Zen zone and love the idea of anchoring that with the washing of the hands or getting into that routine where you're, you know, you're going into your zen, your bath, whatever that is. And then just be kind to yourself. Like I mean, if if it doesn't work the one day, I have fired myself so many times like imagine, and you just remind yourself the next day, it's fine. Like it's a brilliant way just to start over again. Right? You got rid of that that employee and you got into one it's it's fabulous. Like you know, you just move on, but give yourself some grace it is and just know that you're not alone. As as entrepreneurs there there are lots of ways to reach out. I mean, you know, Sarah and I have, you know, met through networking and live events and so on. We met on Zoom first we met in person, you know, we were lucky enough to do that recently, but she is somebody that I can call and say, Hey, like, you know, like, I'm having a problem with this? Can you read it over? Or can we brainstorm this or whatever, there are people out there, like find your tribe, find, find the people that can help you. Because that will relieve a lot of stress. I think as well if you know that you've got some support behind you, and the community knows that this is hard. So there's support out there for you. So just make sure you're plugging into that as you can. Sarah, thank you so much. How can people find you they want to connect?

Again, thank you. It's been so great being on your show today. And the way that you can find me is to go to free gift from sara.com. That's SAR, a free gift from sara.com. Get that stress relief startup kit and then get that feel better, faster routine as well. And you know, from start to finish as entrepreneur, like Catharine just said, you know, your health is so important. Your mental health, your physical health, all of the different things to relieve your stress is so important for you to move faster, to be more productive and to streamline your success.

Catharine O'Leary: Yeah, and to get out of the roller coaster ride.

That's right.

Catharine O'Leary: Thank you, Sara. To everyone out there. Thank you for stopping by for kick, start the conversation. We'll see you again next time.